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Sunday, April 23, 2017

Pre-Release Day Review: Fishy Riot by Lindsey Black

Most people think riot squad officer Taylor Jameson is an asshole. Little do they know his apparent indifference stems from having a meddlesome family always butting into his business. And little does Taylor know he’s about to stumble into a situation that’ll make indifference impossible.

When everything goes horribly wrong at a political rally on a harbour ferry, Taylor encounters Sietta Salisbury. The son of a wealthy politician, Sietta is a revered—but presumed dead—musician, and an enigma who is so strange, Taylor is compelled to look into his background. What he discovers draws him into a bizarre mess of prisoners, politics, and attempted murder that makes him realise what he’s been missing.

Falling in love isn’t hard. Trying to convince someone else you’re worth loving despite your crazy family and the people trying to kill you? That’s a whole other can of worms.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Fishy Riot looks to be the first book released by author Lindsey Black. The story was set in Australia and had many acronyms, Australian words and references that I didn't understand, or get the meaning of, as they aren't something we use in the US. It's interesting to see the differences in language, politics, and police situations in a different country. This story involves A LOT of characters, and it was really hard for me to keep them all straight throughout the book.

This story is told by Riot Officer Taylor's POV. He's a macho hardass who can be pretty rude and inconsiderate. He takes pride in his attitude and leaves the niceties up to his twin Clay. He comes from a large family where the siblings all have rhyming names, except for one. Taylor's family drives him crazy, except for Clay, and they are a very big part of this story. Many of the interactions with his family are hilarious, with lots of funny dialogue. But, if I was Taylor, I would consider moving to a different continent away from them. Taylor is not interested in relationships, he leaves that up to his twin Clay until Taylor meets Sietta on one of the jobs. Taylor is intrigued and attracted to Sietta right away, but doesn't think he has a chance with the son of a wealthy politician. Taylor is suspicious of the interactions in Sietta's family but gets shut down. With the help of Sietta's younger sibling, Taylor is able to rescue Sietta from a horrible, abusive life. Taylor may not have wanted a relationship, but once he fell for Sietta, that was it for him. I won't say a lot about Sietta because I don't want to give away any of the story, but, considering everything he has gone through, he's one of the strongest characters in this book.

This story had a lot of focus on the actions of the Riot Officers, the cases they were working, with lots of action. There was some political action, and I wondered if that's actually what happens in Australian politics when a crime was committed. If so, I'd say it's about the complete opposite of what the US political system is like.

This was a great start for a new author and was an enjoyable read. I'm not sure if this is going to remain a standalone or if the author is considering a series, but it would be a great start for one. You'll find plenty of action, and watching a hardass fall in love for his complete opposite was really sweet!